


Ugly Words

by ironstatic (eloquentelegance)



Series: 100 Beautiful and Ugly Words [61]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/F, Old Lore, Unfinished
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-08 07:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16425485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eloquentelegance/pseuds/ironstatic
Summary: This isn't a love story. This has never been a love story.(The climactic chapters between Jinx and Lux. 25 ugly words to define the end between them.)





	1. Obstreperous

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a finished work. Whatever happens in the next two weeks, I figured it'd be nice to show you the chapters I did manage to write. 
> 
> So it's going to end on a cliffhanger. Because I never got around to writing how it really ends. My plan had been to lump 25 words into a single post. 
> 
> Then have a nice, winding aftermath of 15 beautiful words to round out the promised 100. 
> 
> This work remains important to me. I feel like I grew into my personal style so much from writing this. I want to finish it just to say I could. But...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> noisy, unruly

 

Runeterra is a big, dangerous realm. In the south, there are deserts and jungles filled with the raging ravenous. In the north, there are wastelands and tundras emptied of all sensible life. Then, there’s everything in between - the tucked away outposts and the sprawling city-states with forever fluctuating borders and bandit-infested backwoods. It’s easy to get lost. It’s easier to _be_ lost, to disappear, to blend in with the crowd - just another face among many.

Finding Jinx won’t be easy. With her tracker charm suppressed, finding Jinx will be almost impossible. Keyword: almost. Ezreal has dealt with less favorable odds, from the nonexistent to the insane. He’s made a career out of finding things lost and forgotten, things only heard of in whispers around deathbeds. He’s found relics considered mythical or shrugged off as fictional. He’s found artifacts mentioned only in a footnote from a crumbling text. He’s found things he didn’t know could be found, not because finding it would be impossible but because he didn’t even know it existed until he (sometimes literally) stumbled upon it. In comparison, finding Jinx can’t be too hard.

Ezreal asks around. He talks to Zac. He pesters Ekko. He bribes Twitch. They all tell him to expect the unexpected. Studying a map of Runeterra, he thinks about Jinx, wild and crazy and noisy Jinx. He could see her somewhere dirty and downtrodden. She would fit best someplace messy and violent. Bilgewater, chaotic and crowded with corpse-laden streets, should be her hideout of choice. Except Bilgewater was too logical a conclusion. And he’s dealing with Jinx.

It catches his eye then. It’s north of Bilgewater, and east of Noxus. It’s rarely spoken of, preferring to remain neutral and excluded from current events. It’s the last place anyone would think to look for Jinx. He smirks. He better get moving then.

Ezreal would’ve expected to find Jinx at a bar, where everyone is armed and angry. Or she could’ve been at the docks, where fights are frequent and plenty. So, of course, he doesn’t find her at a bar or at the docks. He finds her precisely when he isn’t looking for her.

He was looking for a meal, something hot and heavy to fill his belly.  After a good fortnight of traveling, he was exhausted. The innkeepers recommended the place to him. It was a small, humble, tea shop in a cozy corner of an idyllic Ionian town. He never considered it a possible hideout for Jinx. He then nearly has a heart attack when, sitting down at his table, Ezreal hears an all too familiar laugh.

Quickly glancing around, he spots her two seats from him, chatting up a waitress. She’s got black hair now, and green eyes. Contacts, he thinks, and dye. She’s wearing some bastardized version of a quipao. But it’s her alright. It’s Jinx. She must have felt his stare because she turns. Her gaze meets his. Her smile freezes. Her pupils dilate. She also looks ready to suffer cardiac arrest. He finds that perversely comforting.


	2. Maladroit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> clumsy

They stare at each other.

Ezreal is reeling. He found her. He actually found Jinx. Not that there was ever any doubt - not at all. He is, after all, prodigiously good at finding things, relics, artifacts, and now, people. A grin grows on his lips.

Savoring his success, Ezreal forgets a single somewhat important detail. People move. They don’t just sit around, just waiting to be found, especially if they’re on the run. And Jinx is definitely running, fleeing, escaping. Ezreal watches her dash out of the shop. He sits, gaping at the newly emptied seat, for a full second. Then his brain helpfully reboots. Cursing enough to fluster a hardened Bilgerat, he jumps to his feet. He follows her out the door, down a winding alley, into a crowded market street. Darting between stalls, he runs right into a cabbage merchant’s cart. He falls to the ground, stunned for a good minute.

Jinx is fast. But he knew that. He’s seen her on the Rift. He’s watched her chase after opponents. Jinx is fast, really fast. It’s not enough to simply find her. He’s got to hunt her down, corner her, and lock her up. To do that, he’s gonna need help, lots and lots of help. He smirks. Luckily, he knows exactly who to ask.


	3. Unctuous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> smug, ingratiating

“Look at you,” Jinx purrs, eyes half-lidded, lips curling up. “In your big boy clothes. All dressed up for little ol’ me?”

Ezreal spent a good day searching the tiny Ionian town. There weren’t many places to look. When he didn’t find any traces of Jinx, he figured she ran off, hid somewhere else. He hadn’t been too worried. He had found her once, he can find her again.

Now, it’s been three months since they last met. Ezreal managed to track her down. She’s in Piltover, of all places. It’s the city where every street corner had a wanted poster of her. To say she’s infamous is like saying Draven loves himself. It’s a severe understatement. Jinx hiding in Piltover has got to be the ballsiest goddamn move Ezreal ever saw. She’s totally mocking him.

It’s not completely reckless either. Jinx wasn’t about to step into a proverbial snake pit alone. No, this time she brought friends. Ezreal doesn’t know how Jinx befriended Sarah Fortune or Malcolm Graves, but he can deal. He’s got his own posse. Of course, Vi and Jayce must never know he thinks they’re his posse. He’ll never live it down.

After a couple of payoffs, a couple of tip offs, Ezreal learns of a little, illegal club. It’s no place too uncommon. Piltover may be considered the City of Progress, a hub of enlightenment; but every light has a shadow. When Caitlyn cleaned up the streets - the thieves, the gangsters, the pimps simply hid underground, literally. Piltover has massive catacombs. Ezreal should know. Now all the capos and the capo-wannabes can set up shop and sin.

The club he found is specifically for gambling. There’s some drug dealing in the back, some prostitution at the front. But the real money is at the card tables. Ezreal saw Jinx there, sitting pretty with a full house. He took a seat across from her. Jayce is by the bar, sharing a drink with Graves. Vi is two tables over, arguing with Fortune. All her friends are occupied. Judging by her sharp smile, Jinx is very aware of this.

“You like?” Ezreal smirks, straightening his blazer. “I look dapper, no?”

Jinx titters. She changed her look again, he idly notes. She’s got short hair. It’s a bright, strawberry blonde. She’s not wearing contacts. When she looks at him, it’s with her naturally red eyes, glinting in the dim light.

“Very adorable. Like a kid playing pretend,” she hums, tilting her head. “Do you even know how to gamble?”

“I’m not here to gamble.”

“Everything’s a gamble.” Jinx goes quiet, studying him for a moment. She purses her lips. “...You know, when a woman skips town just to avoid you, that usually means she’s not interested.”

Ezreal snorts. “Cut the crap Jinx. If you don’t know who I’m doing this for, then you really don’t deserve her.”

“And what if I really don’t? Hmmm?” Jinx leans forward. “You’ve never liked me, Ez-re-al. So what’s your deal, huh? Why are you chasing me, huh?”

“Someone I love is very sad. You make her very happy,” Ezreal explains slowly, as if speaking to a toddler. Then he smiles, wide and bright. “Also, you make funny faces when I find you.”

Jinx narrows her eyes, smirking. “You can find me all you want, pretty thing. But you’ll never catch me.”

“Oh, maybe not by myself, no.”

“So you brought M.C. Hammer and Fat Hands. Well, they look a little occupied to me. You’re all by your itty-bitty self.”

Ezreal leans back, eyeing his cards. “You missed one.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“I’m really not.” Ezreal reveals his hand. It’s a Royal Flush. “Taric, if you would please.”

Jinx jumps to her feet, leaping over the table. She’s stunned in mid-air. A sheepish Taric quickly catches her.

“I do apologize, Miss Jinx,” he murmurs.

Ezreal stands up, dusting off imaginary dirt from his immaculate white jacket. “They really don’t notice you, huh?”

Taric smiles wryly. “I am usually covered in glittering gems. But that is my battle armor. I do wear plain clothes on occasion.” His smile twists a little, more strained. “Not often. But gladly for a friend in need.”

“Thanks, it really -”

“I’d rather you never asked me to do so again.”

Ezreal barks out a laugh. “Noted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mafia skins meet Debonair skins


End file.
